Why You Should and How to Get Rid of Algae

Growing plants or crops hydroponically has been the new trend and the choice of a lot of growers these past few years. When you choose to use this method, you no longer need a wide space of land just so you can profit from planting. In growing the hydroponic way, you can save space and money because you will only need a space just enough for your crops and lots of container and water, because in hydroponic growing, the plants just basically live in water with the help of a lot of nutrients. There are a lot of problem that might arise when you grow a plant using a soil like pests, snail and other forms of diseases. In growing hydroponically, there are also things that you need to worry about and one of the most common problems or organisms that you are going to encounter is algae. Algae are very tiny organisms that love to live in places where the temperature is warm, where there is a lot of light and plenty of nutrients that they can feed on which is basically the same environment that Cannabis plants also like to grow in.

How can Algae Harm Your Marijuana Crops?

Algae very much like attaching themselves to the surface of the equipment and on the roots of the plants. There are also some that like to swim in the water and this can cause clogging in the tubes that you are using. When the algae attach to the roots of the plants, this will cause a depletion of oxygen to your plant and the algae will now compete with the nutrients that you give to your crops. Algae that are swimming freely can also cause depletion in the levels of oxygen in the water and we all know how important that is to the growth of the plants.

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Get Rid of the Algae

Here are some tips to help keep algae away from your plants.

The equipment that you are going to use should be all opaque because algae likes it when water that is rich with nutrients reflect some light. Make sure that you will not use clear equipment – from you bucket or container, to the tubing and the reservoir for nutrients.

When you already see algae growing around your plants, this means that it is time that your get you reservoir cleansed and rinsed. You have to mix ten parts of water to one part of hydrogen peroxide, add little amount of this mixture to your reservoir often. This will help the roots of your plants to have more oxygen and it can also deter the growing of the algae. But do this only to the marijuana plants that are already older because the peroxide can be harmful to the root systems that are still young.

You can also use extract of the grapefruit seed. This is the method used by water conservationist in the lakes, ponds and even drinking water.

You can also add a UVC light to the filtration system that you are using for this can help catch those harmful microorganisms. This is safe for plants, fishes and humans.